Grupo Corpo 21 and Gira Cal Performances Company Debut // Berkeley
Grupo Corpo 21 and Gira Cal Performances Company Debut, Apr 25–26, 8pm, Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley.
Brazil’s riveting Grupo Corpo visits in its Cal Performances debut, performing 2 dance works, 21 and the Bay Area premier of Gira.
See 2 amazing videos & photo gallery below.
2 shows!
Fri–Sat, Apr 25–26, 8pm
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
Ticket Office
510.642.9988
tickets@calperformances.org
Videos:
About show:
Brazil’s riveting Grupo Corpo visits in its Cal Performances debut, with two works that showcase the company’s distinctive style, rooted in classical ballet but enriched by folk and popular dance.
Co-led by brothers Paulo and Rodrigo Pederneiras, the troupe’s dancers are celebrated for their athleticism, versatility, and deep respect for the connections between music and movement.
The choreography in 21 is derived from the rhythmic sequences in the score by Marco Antônio Guimarães and Brazilian instrumental group Uakti.
Gira (“SPIN”) is inspired by the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda and features music by São Paulo band Metá Metá that combines ritual chanting with animal cries, bird calls, and searing saxophone.
Photo gallery:
“Their…dancers are masters of a scintillating eclecticism of style, able to whip a languorous Latin shimmy into a sharp pirouette, to flip from samba to jazz to ballet in a single phrase” (The Guardian).
- Please note: this performance contains nudity.
- This event is part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Fractured History” programming for the 2024–25 season.
- Run time for this concert is approximately 1 hour 45 minutes, including intermission.
- calperformances.org
Directions;
If your GPS directions for Zellerbach Hall or Zellerbach Playhouse lead you through campus (Frank Schlessinger Way/Grade Street) we suggest that you use the address of the Bear’s Lair (2465 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94704) as it is directly in front of Zellerbach Hall.
Press release:
GRUPO CORPO MAKES ITS CAL PERFORMANCES DEBUT IN 21AND THE BAY AREA PREMIERE OF GIRA FRIDAY–SATURDAY, APRIL 25–26 AT ZELLERBACH HALL
Cal Performances at UC Berkeley welcomes Brazil’s acclaimed contemporary dance troupe Grupo Corpo in its Cal Performances debut, featuring two signature works, 21 (1992) and, in its Bay Area premiere, Gira (2017), on Friday and Saturday, April 25–26. Led by the company’s founder and artistic director Paulo Pederneiras, and featuring choreography by his brother Rodrigo Pederneiras, Grupo Corpo is celebrated for a distinctive movement vocabulary that combines classical ballet with Brazilian folkloric and popular dance genres. Over its 50-year history, the company has created more than 40 works, with musical inspiration drawn from European classical composers including Mozart, Schumann, Chopin, and Penderecki, as well as Brazilian luminaries Heitor Villa-Lobos, Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil, Tom Zé, and Nelson Freire.
The performance is part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Fractured History” programming for the 2024–25 season.
In both 21 and Gira, Rodrigo Pederneiras’choreography is inextricably entwined with its musical sources of inspiration. The movement in 21is derived from the rhythmic sequences in the score by Marco Antônio Guimarães and Brazilian instrumental group Uakti.
Geometric shapes and numeric configurations in the score communicate changes of tempo and rhythm to the dancers in the three-part, 40-minute work, which progresses from a clever number game to a visceral physical display.
On the second half of the program, Gira (Spin) is inspired by the syncretic Afro-Brazilian religions of Candomblé and Umbanda and features music by São Paulo band Metá Metá that combines ritual chanting with animal cries, bird calls, and saxophone. In Angola-Congo nations and Umbanda gatherings, a congregation assembles to worship deities with chants and ritual dances, usually performed by spinning in circles. As part of the research that informed the creation of this 40-minute work, the creators of Gira immersed themselves in the universe of Afro-Brazilian religions through literature and field study, visiting Candomblé and Umbanda sites of worship. Gira offers a poetic view of man’s primordial need to connect with the divine. Paulo Pederneiras’ distinctive set and lighting design for both works lends a bold and edgy character to the productions.
